Victorian Romance in a Bottle

It was late afternoon. An overcast day.

There was a mood about the dining room—the walls looked like worn lipstick. Like a late-night date. The light a soft glow through the windows. It felt romantic. And it gave me an idea.

‘Victorian Romance in a Bottle’

I’ve been holding onto these two glass perfume bottles I found at a local vintage shop (only the one is pictured here). For over a year, I’ve sat on ideas, just trying to think of what it was I wanted to capture with this beautiful, ornate piece. Something about the dining room sparked the creative vision I was looking for.

Between the deep red of the walls and the soft, filtered lighting, it reminded me of Victorian era art and decor. Indulgent. Elegant. Romantic. Realist. Natural.

Paintings like these (pictured below) filled my mind. I channeled the dark and moody shadows that made the moment feel emotionally and physically heavy. I leaned on the autumn afternoon light to direct it on the petals of the flowers with just a touch on the bottle and stopper for a glow. To further connect the relationship between rose and perfume bottle, I sprayed the flowers with rose water and ran a paintbrush along the petals, leaving behind little droplets. I was proud of the little dollop of water hanging onto the leaf for dear life—it stayed that way through the entire shoot.

‘Victorian Romance in a Bottle’ is representative of the relationship between flowers and perfume. It’s about the beauty and indulgence of a fragrance that brings you to life. A love for the garden that you keep close to you.

If you look closely, the details on the bottle show a beautifully intricate mold of a flower basket connected to two cherubs—one on each side. To me, they are like little cupids protecting the essence of romance encapsulated in the glass vessel.

What fragrance would you dream of putting in a bottle?

S.

Photographs are by Stephanie Snyder documented on Sony a7iii and edited using Adobe Creative Cloud. Inspiration Sources: Reference image 1. Reference image 2. Reference image 3.